Just started down the road to recovery and I have a question... I have a T who seems to be a very wonderful person and has a good amount of experience dealing with CSA. She is wanting to incorporate with my treatment a technique with me called EMDR. Has anyone had any experience with this?

EMDR is a valuable therapy technique, but if you are skeptical and new to therapy you might want to wait a bit until you are more comfortable. The survivor should always feel he is being supported and assisted in therapy, not pushed. No matter how good or valuable a technique is, it should be your decision to go for it and if you have questions you should certainly feel free to ask them and expect full and clear answers from your T.

Much love,Larry

_________________________Nobody living can ever stop meAs I go walking my freedom highway.Nobody living can make me turn back:This land was made for you and me.(Woody Guthrie)

I've been doing EMDR "training" for about two months now, and the first thing I want to say is to make sure you trust your therapist before you begin.

EMDR is very trying and very tiring. You will want to sleep after each session.

My experience has been as follows.

The EMDR started with an attempt for me to find a safe place. I believe this safe place is a tool that I will use in the future when we start to talk about some of the more horrific memories I have had in my past. We've spent 3-4 sessions working on finding this safe place.

The next thing my therapist did bring a minor annoyance into my safe place. For me, that was the phone ringing. She asked me to use my safe place to overcome the annoyance, and when I was successful in doing that, I found that I started to become adept at using my safe place to overcome triggers in day to day life.

The next thing we did was my therapist started to fill out a worksheet asking me about my memories from different times in my life. This worksheet is currently only halfway done, but she is asking me about positive as well as negative experiences. I believe she is going to attempt to use my positive memories to help overcome my negative memories, and with the memories that can't be overcome, there is always my safe place to retreat to when it becomes overbearing.

How has it effected me?

I have become more in tune with my emotions, my memories, and my triggers. Most importantly, I have started to be able to put my finger on why day to day occurances remind me of some unexplained event that happened in my past. It can be quite unnerving at times because of the ease I have been able to not only identify triggers but also coping mechanisms in myself and in others. Really, what has happened is that a great big faucet in my mind is currently wide open, and emotions and memories are streaming out of it at full force. My therapist says that we are going to be working on these memories while we get ready for the next step of EMDR.

This has been a challenge, but I felt like I wasn't going anywhere when it all started. I hope I was able to help.

Bryan

_________________________Revenge is nothing more than another way of perpetuating abuse.

What the world needs nowIs some new words of wisdomLike la la la la la la la la la.-David Lowery

Having a friend who will keep a secret for you is worthless compared to a friend who won't keep a secret from you.

thanks for the input. I feel ready to begin...that is why I have started down this road. Just know how the "counseling" of the past has only led to me beginning to feel like I had just had to try harder to be better.

Of course the past counselors never began to touch the abuse i had. Not sure i even admitted it was there before.

Today is beginning to feel like a new day for me. Long road I know.. but at least it is a better road. 25+ years of stuffing it in the box has taken its toll on my life and the lives of those around me.

I
agree that my access and use of the MaleSurvivor discussion forums and
chat room is subject to the terms of this Agreement. AND the sole
discretion of MaleSurvivor. I agree that my use of MaleSurvivor
resources are AT-WILL,
and that my posting privileges may be terminated at any time, and for
any reason by MaleSurvivor.